University of Minnesota Athletics
Golden Gophers Claim National Title
3/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
The top-ranked University of Minnesota wrestling team won its third NCAA Championship since 2001 on Saturday night at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich. The Golden Gophers clinched the team race following back-to-back losses by Iowa State wrestlers in the 184- and 197-pound title matches. In the final bout of the tournament, heavyweight Cole Konrad concluded his stellar collegiate career with a pin of Penn State's Aaron Anspach in the finals. Konrad became the fourth two-time national champion in school history. Minnesota finished with 98.0 points, while Iowa State finished second with 88.5.
Iowa State entered the championship round with three finalists and needed a mininum of two victories to overtake the Golden Gophers prior to the heavyweight match. Top-ranked Trent Paulson pulled the Cylcones to within 3.5 points after defeating Wisconsin's Craig Henning at 157 pounds. Freshman Jake Varner could not follow with a victory of his own as he was soundly defeated by top-ranked and unbeaten Jake Herbert of Northwestern at 184 pounds. It was then up to No. 9 Kurt Backes at 197 pounds, but No. 2 Josh Glenn of American got the takedown at the edge of the mat in the middle of the first overtime session and the Golden Gopher faithful celebrated the championship.
"I think the true character of a team is when you get yourself in a hole and you have to dig yourself out," head coach J Robinson. "They responded when they had to and that's what champions do. This was a team win. All nine guys contributed to this and that's the beauty of this victory."
With the team title locked up, Konrad took to the mat looking to cement his place alongside Golden Gopher legends Verne Gagne, Tim Hartung and Damion Hahn as a two-time national champion. In the title match, Konrad put his patented body lock on Anspach midway through the first and threw him to his back. Konrad got the fall at 1:53 of the first period. He finished the season unbeaten with a 35-0 record and a second straight individual title.
"We had a tough semifinal round, but in a national tournament, you can't expect everything to go the way you want," Konrad said. "We focus in our training on getting stronger as a tournament goes on and we were able to bounce back today. I can't think of a better way to finish a career."
Konrad finished his career with back-to-back NCAA Championships and 76 wins in a row. He finished with a 154-13-0 career record, just five wins behind the career record of 159 held by Ed Giese since 1986. Konrad also had 50 pin, which rank second in school history. Cole Konrad also became Minnesota's fifth four-time All-American. He joined Chad Kraft, Luke Becker, Jared Lawrence and Damion Hahn.
This morning during the medal round, junior Roger Kish and sophomore Dustin Schlatter earned third place at 184 and 149 pounds, respectively. Redshirt freshman Jayson Ness claimed fifth place at 125 pounds with his third pin of the tournament. Junior C.P. Schlatter finished his first All-American season with a sixth-place finish at 157 pounds.
The Golden Gophers finished the 2006-07 season with a national title, five All-Americans, their sixth Big Ten title in the last nine years and their fourth National Duals title in the last seven years. Minnesota will return four All-Americans and nine starters from a team which finished the regular season with a 20-1 record. The lone loss will be Konrad at heavyweight.
Team Results - Following Session VI
Team Standings
1. Minnesota, 98.0
2. Iowa State, 88.5
3. Missouri, 80.0
4. Northwestern, 71.5
5. Oklahoma State, 69.0
6. Michigan, 62.0
7. Hofstra, 60.5
8. Iowa, 57.0
9. Edinboro, 56.0
10. Ohio State, 54.5
11. Penn State, 54.0
Golden Gopher Placewinners
1st - Cole Konrad (HWT)
3rd - Dustin Schlatter (149)
3rd - Roger Kish (184)
5th - Jayson Ness (125)
6th - C.P. Schlatter (157)
Individual Results
No. 4 Jayson Ness - 125 pounds
1st Round - Ness pinned Taylor Cummings (NCSU), 2:28
2nd Round - Ness pinned Tyler Shinn (OSU), 4:17
Quarterfinals - Ness dec. No. 5 Charlie Falck (Iowa), 3-0
Semifinals - No. 1 Sam Hazewinkel (OU) maj. dec. Ness, 10-0
Consolation - No. 7 Angel Escobedo (Indiana) dec. Ness, 7-3
5th Place - Ness pinned No. 9 Obenson Blanc (Lock Haven), 1:00
Fifth Place with a 4-2 record
All-American
No. 7 Mack Reiter - 133 pounds
1st Round - Reiter pinned Richard Donald (Bloomsburg), 4:36
2nd Round - Reiter dec. Joseph Baker (Navy), 12-5
Quarterfinals - No. 2 Matt Valenti (Penn) dec. Reiter, 4-0
Consolation - No. 8 Tyler McCormick (Missouri) dec. Reiter, 4-2
Eliminated with 2-2 record
No. 4 Manuel Rivera - 141 pounds
1st Round - Rivera maj. dec. Matthew Schumm (CSB), 14-4
2nd Round - Rivera dec. Matthew Kyler (Army), 5-2
Quarterfinals - Don Fisch (Rider) dec. Rivera, 10-4
Consolation - No. 7 Brandon Rader (WVU) dec. Rivera, 9-5
Eliminated with a 2-2 record
No. 1 Dustin Schlatter - 149 pounds
1st Round - Schlatter dec. Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska), 3-2
2nd ROund - Schlatter dec. Matt Moley (Bloomsburg), 5-1
Quarterfinals - Schlatter dec. Tyler Turner (Wisconsin), 6-3
Semifinals - No. 5 Gregor Gillespie (Edinboro) dec. Schlatter, 3-2
Consolation - Schlatter dec. No. 6 J.P. O'Connor (Harvard), 5-4
Consolation - Schlatter dec. No. 10 Lance Palmer (Ohio State), 1-0
Third Place with a 5-1 record
All-American
No. 4 C.P. Schlatter - 157 pounds
Pigtails - Schlatter maj. dec. Luke Salazar (UNC), 9-1
1st Round - Schlatter maj. dec. Cody Midlam (Duquesne), 10-2
2nd Round - Schlatter dec. John Jarred (Navy), 1-0
Quarterfinals - No. 5 Michael Poeta (Illinois) dec. Schlatter, 5-4
Consolation - Schlatter dec. No. 6 Brandon Becker (Indiana), 3-2
Consolation - Schlatter dec. Josh Zupancic (Stanford), 1-0
Consolation - No. 3 James Strouse (Hofstra) dec. Schlatter, 3-2
Fifth Place - No. 11 Matt Kocher (Pittsburgh) dec. Schlatter, 2-1
Sixth place with a 5-3 record
All-American
Tyler Safratowich - 165 pounds
1st Round - Safratowich dec. No. 8 Steve Anceravage (Cornell), 8-4
2nd Round - No. 9 Matt Pell (Missouri) maj. dec. Safratowich, 15-3
Consolation - Safratowich pinned Eric Decker (Virginia Tech), 4:30
Consolation - No. 11 Patrick Pitsch (ASU) dec, Safratowich, 7-4
Safratowich eliminated with 2-2 record
Gabriel Dretsch - 174 pounds
1st Round - Drestch dec. Nathan Lee (Boise State), 5-3
2nd Round - No. 1 Ben Askren (Missouri) pinned Dretsch, 4:51
Consolation - Dretsch dec. No. 12 Mike Letts (Maryland), 4-2
Consolation - No. 3 Steve Luke (Michigan) dec. Dretsch, 2-1 TB1
Dretsch eliminated with 2-2 record
No. 2 Roger Kish - 184 pounds
1st Round - Kish maj. dec. Jack Jensen (OSU), 12-3
2nd Round - Kish pinned Shawn Vincent (UNC), 1:44
Quarterfinals - Kish dec. No. 7 Alex Clemsen (Edinboro), 9-5
Semifinals - No. 6 Jake Varner (ISU) dec. Kish, 4-2 SV1
Consolation - Kish dec. No. 3 Mike Pucillo (Ohio State), 7-5
Third Place - Kish dec. No. 7 Alex Clemsen (Edinboro), 3-2
Third Place with a 5-1 record
All-American
No. 1 Cole Konrad - Heavyweight
1st Round - Konrad dec. Jared Rosholt (OSU), 8-2
2nd Round - Konrad maj. dec. Rashard Goff (CSU), 9-1
Quarterfinals - Konrad maj. dec. No. 9 Michael Spaid (Bloomsburg), 16-4
Semifinals - Konrad dec. No. 5 Ty Watterson (Oregon State), 2-1
Finals - Konrad pinned No. 2 Aaron Anspach (Penn State), 1:53
First Place with a 5-0 record
All-American
